First solo outreach event

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SteveH
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First solo outreach event

Post by SteveH »

Hello all!

This is my first post on SolarChat, and I'm glad it's about outreach. I've just agreed to visit a high school astronomy class. I'll have 80 minutes to accomplish a presentation and (hopefully) some time looking at the sun. The teacher would like me to include 'Telescopes 101' to the class, as she "...knows very little about telescopes." (The fact that the high school astronomy teacher knows very little about telescopes is probably a discussion for another place). The high school has a dob, a couple of SCT's, maybe a refractor of unknown size that she thinks has a white light solar filter.

I've done large public outreach events (e.g. Craters of the Moon Star Party) with my local astro club (Idaho Falls Astronomical Society), but those 'presentations' are all at the eyepiece. My first question for all you experienced folks is, how should I structure the 80 minutes? My thought is Telescopes 101 in the classroom first, maybe 30 minutes with 10 minutes for questions, then outside for a brief talk about the sun, types of solar scopes (I'll have my Lunt60PT60DS and an f/9 80mm achro with a white light filter), then on to the eyepieces. How much time should I budget per student? Is 30-35 minutes enough for 15 students and a couple of teachers? I have no video capability and will be using manual alt/az mounts - pretty bare bones. I have no handouts, posters, glasses (except the pair I got from Stephen at ASAE in 2013), or even a powerpoint (although I'll probably put one together as the classroom has a Promethean Board. I haven't looked at the other fora here, but I suspect the Links forum will be a wealth of info.

Just to make this interesting, it's only 6 days away. Can I even get 50 pairs of glasses in time?

Steve


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by Derek Klepp »

In all honesty Steve I,d get them behind the scope ASAP and explain on the run.A safety brief first on the hazards of Solar viewing and correct procedure.Then go back into the classroom if you have any time left.Use the pics in this forum for references I'm sure you'll find something here relevant to the scopes you're using.
Cheers Derek.
PS Mark T should be able to offer some good advice.


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by marktownley »

I would spend as much time as you can outside with the kids on the scopes, do the 101 infront of the scopes outside, you will find that most of the questions come from when they have looked through the scopes. Maybe get some clipboards and paper and get the students to sketch what they see at the eyepiece. Depending on the schools policy they could use their mobile phone to take a picture through the ep?


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by Montana »

:hamster: :hamster: sounds brilliant, I would also spend most of the time at the eyepiece. Maybe make a CD spectrometer and lets those who are waiting see the spectral lines first. Print out some pictures from the forum here and it will make explaining the features seen down the eyepiece easier. No one will mind, you can certainly use any of mine. Maybe Stephen can pop some glasses in the post for you first class. Remember to tell us all about it :)

Alexandra


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by SteveH »

Thanks, all! I'm honestly a bit relieved to hear your advice. I think I'll be much more comfortable next to the scopes (it's been 20 years since I was in front of a classroom). I searched through my schwag from my last time at ASAE and found five pairs of glasses and a couple of spectrometers, so that's going to help a lot. Forecast for Friday is clear and warm. I can prep a handout with a couple of the pics from you folks and some facts about the difference between white light and Ha, maybe a spectra chart.

I'm feeling much better about this. :cool:


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by Montana »

Have fun Steve and tell us all about it :)

Alexandra


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by SteveH »

Thanks again for your help, folks!

The event went well, despite some initial problems. When I arrived the folks in the office couldn't find the teacher. She hadn't informed the administration so they wouldn't let me just set up by myself. She finally came to sign me into the school after classes had started (so I spent 45 minutes waiting). I followed her to her classroom where she showed my their telescope collection. At first I was optimistic - they had a PST but no tripod, a 12" Meade newtonian with a CGEM and a glass solar filter, a 6" meade newtonian with a baader film filter with pinholes and with an ancient (and inoperable) manual EQ mount, and a 10" dob no secondary.

So we all trooped out to the spot I'd picked for set-up and I got some help moving my gear from my car. I gave the Telescope 101 talk while I was setting up, and fortunately several of the students seemed to know what I was talking about. I'd prepared a small handout explaining spectra and had built three cd spectrographs the night before. There wasn't a lot of activity to see and the seeing was only fair, but I got a "wow" from most of the students when they looked through the Lunt. The spectrographs were actually a big hit, and the teacher told me they were going to cover spectra the following week, so I let her keep the spectrographs. A few students hung around as long as they could between classes and seemed genuinely interested (which reminded me of my university days).

After working through the second group I had to break down immediately (not allowed to be on the grounds without a staff escort), although I had hoped to just stay set up until the lunch break. Next time I'll arrange for an 'all day pass' :lol:

All in all it went very well, although it really felt rushed with only a single scope. It went so fast it wasn't until the last student wandered away that I realized I'd taken no photos. :oops:

Next time...


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by Carbon60 »

Sound like an excellent first solo event, albeit with a few glitches. The main thing is that the students got at least some Sun time on the scope.

Nice work.

Stu


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by Montana »

What a great day :hamster: :hamster: :hamster:
I think I would have felt a bit annoyed waiting for 45 minutes at the start, it doesn't do much for the nerves ;) If you had taken photos there is probably some silly rules that you can't post pictures on the web anyway. Schools are so full of silly rules these days, I am glad I went to school when I did, when everything was free of health and safety stuff. I am sure the next time as you now know all the rules, it will be smoother :)

Alexandra


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Re: First solo outreach event

Post by marktownley »

Great first outreach!


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